Note this is a personal review of digital photo frames with wi-fi capabilities, in particular the top two brands, Nixplay (product page: Click here) and Pix-Star (product page: Click here). These frames are meant to be set up in the homes of your loved ones and let you have online internet access  to share personal photo updates from anywhere in the world. Here is the review…

My wife and I emigrated from Germany to start a new life in sunny California. My parents (& parents in law) only get to see our kids every other year during visits. So I am always looking for ways  to have them feel more connected to their grandkids.

My wife is very active on social media (Facebook) and posts lots of family pictures. The problem is that neither of our mothers use computers and rarely get to see these photo updates. When I came across a new generation of digital photo frames with wireless internet connectivity, I knew this could be a great way to display moments from our everyday life in the homes of our parents.

A Nixplay Wifi Cloud Frame, for example, is one of those new digital picture frames. It is an Amazon Topseller with a 4 1/2 stars (over 700 user ratings), plug-and-play, gives me online access and has HD resolution.  I was hopeful that it would make for a pretty awesome present for our non-tech-savvy, non-facebook parents.

I filmed the following youtube video to review one of these digi-photo frames, incl. the install and set-up of “photo playlists”…

Click here to visit the Nixplay Product Page on Amazon.com

So what exactly can the Nixplay Wifi Cloud Frame do?

Wifi Digital Photo Frames make for easy picture sharing – instantly. Because of the WIFI connectivity, there is no need to copy large files onto hard drive, or burn a disc and wait until you see your loved ones. Here are some of the main features:

• Ability to send photos directly to the frame (Email, web browser or iPhone/Android App)
• Safe, secure and free of charge upload to an online cloud server.
• Optional access to and easy selection of photos from your personal Facebook, Instagram, Dropbox, Flickr & Picasa accounts (no need to have any of those to get full use)
• Ability to set up numerous personal photo playlists, and share them selectively or collectively among many frames (for different family members anywhere in the world)
• FREE Sync up to 5 frames and 10GB of photo storage (Plus Account: 10 frames and 30GB)
• Hi-resolution photos & HD video capabilities
• Slots for USB stick/SD Card for even more storage/local sharing options
• Anti-glare LED backlit display, premium matte rubberised surface finish, VESA wall mountable

There are additional features that come with a fairly easy-to-use interface (e.g. sleep schedule, motion detection, slideshow controls, etc.). Nixplay also allows for automatic software updates to add more features in the future.

A digital photo frame like this could really be a great gift idea, if it is easy to set up, stays connected and delivers a great picture.

So how does it hold up in the real world?

5 Things I liked about the Nixplay:

The Wifi Photo Frame is a neat little device. It’s robust, sleek and reliable. While I see some room for improvement by adding additional software features (s. below), here are the main strong points of this particular brand:

1. Overall Ease of Use: The setup was really simple and quick. I plugged the device in, went through the quick setup process to connect to the wi-fi network and register (pair) the frame. The user interface on the nixplay site is also very simple and easy to navigate. I dragged and dropped a bunch of pics into a playlist. The photos started showing up on the device immediately. Within 10 minutes of taking the frame out of the box, I was up and running.
2. Picture Quality: Brightness, contrast and resolution are very convincing. I am a professional film editor by trade, so I would dare to say that I have a pretty discerning eye when it comes to picture quality. I am more than satisfied with the resolution quality. Tip: I noticed that uploading pictures through Flickr or directly (instead of Facebook) gave the best quality. I guess Facebook might compress the pictures to reduce file size.
3. Frame Quality: The frame itself makes a good impression, it looks and feels solid. The user interface design is robust and easy to understand. I also like that it comes with a remote and a set of buttons in the back of the frame so that you have different ways to turn on/off and change the frame settings.
4. Sharing Flexibility: I love that I can directly link my Flickr and Facebook accounts to the nixplay portal. This way I don’t have to re-upload photos. It is just a matter of a simple drag- and-drop picture transfer into playlists (see video review, where I show how easy it is to create and fill a playlist with new photos).
   

   Build your playlist directly with pictures from your Facebook, Instagram, Picassa, Flickr or Dropbox account

5. The Emotional Value: The best part is that my mother gets to see tons of pictures of her grandkids with new updates coming in as we please. She absolutely loves the frame and what it does for her daily life. And what could be more important than that.

3 Things that could be better (and hopefully soon will be):

The Nixplay Frame is off to a great start, but there is room for improvement. Fortunately the software is built with updates in mind to improve existing and add new features. Here are three things that I would love to see in the future:

1. Ability to delete pictures/playlist directly via the remote: I really like that my parents can
   

   Nixplay Frame automatically updates with new features

   set most of the settings of the frame locally through a remote. But they do not have the ability to delete specific pictures or playlists. It would be nice to add a local delete function, so that they can ultimately have the last word on what gets to be presented in their home.

2. Ability to locally deactivate playlists: The same goes for this function. We feed new playlists to the frame on a monthly basis, but I can already tell that my parents like to see less of the older playlists and more of the newer ones. So I would love for them to have the ability to deactivate playlists to their taste.
3. Ability to switch to a Live Video Feed of a security camera as part of your home monitoring system. My parents (and I) have a fairly advanced home monitoring system with security cameras. Wouldn’t it be great to feed the camera feed to the frame in order to see who just wrang the door bell?

Overall,  what do I think?

In summary, I really like the frame. I like it so much that I bought a second frame, because this is probably the best present that I’ve given my parents in a long time. Now my non-techie mom can enjoy regular photo-updates of her grandkids, because it is so easy for me or my wife to send her new pictures.

When I started my research, I never imagined  that I would find a frame that really would be this easy to use. There is another brand called Pix-Star, that is just as good. But I eventually decided on the Nixplay, which for me had the edge on resolution and ease of use. Both brands have 4+ ratings on Amazon and have several #1 Bestsellers in their product line. Frames run between $50 to $200, depending on the size of the frame (9-15 inches).

I hope my video reviews and blog has helped you. Feel free to leave a comment or drop us a question. Subscribe for more updates, as I plan to write a follow-up review in a few weeks,

Boogi.

Click here to visit the official Nixplay Product Page on Amazon.com

Or click here to visit the official Pix-Star Product Page on Amazon.com